Robert S. Collins Jr.

“Keep love in your heart” This is not only the advice that Bobby Collins conveyed to any who cared to listen, but also the cornerstone of his life. Able to see the beauty in all things and people, Bobby taught us all how to strive for happiness by appreciating the good things that surround all of us and by tending to the meaningful details that make a house a home, an acquaintance a friend, and a life fulfilled. He took this approach with his work and with his relationships. As a builder, he avoided cheap supplies and cookiecutter plans in favor of durable materials and thoughtful design. As a patriarch, he had aspirations for his loved ones but never let those interfere with his attention to each individual word, gesture, and emotion. He would stop the earth’s rotation to listen to the quietest member of a crowd and thus taught us all the power of consensus and the power of the moment. After sharing a life full of love, Bobby passed on September 19th surrounded by the family he adored. Carrying on the legacy of Bobby is his wife of 27 years, Cindy Collins; his children, Carrie Collins Zande (husband Pat), Robert S. Collins III (wife Mary Holt), Abigail and Julia; his brothers Danny (wife Alice) and David; his grandchildren, Dominic Zande, Hobbs and Holt Collins, the members of his wife’s family whom he embraced as his own, Mary Erazim, Ken Fread (wife Laura),brotherinlaw, Rex Lindaman, Monty Fread (wife Sue) , Lori Gould (husband Todd) as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Bobby was preceded in death by his father and mother, Robert and Bertha Collins; brotherinlaw, John Erazim; sisterinlaw, Kathryn Lindaman; and mother and fatherinlaw, Ella and Russell Fread. A “Celebration of his Life” will be held on Sunday, September 25th at 3:00 p.m. at The Garden on Millbrook, 2400 E Millbrook Rd., Raleigh, NC 27604. In lieu of flowers and in memory of Bobby, the family requests that a donation be made to Duke Health in support of interstitial lung disease research (fund #3910088): Duke Health Development, ℅ Morgan Pope, 710 W. Main Street, Suite 200, Durham, NC 27701 or via the website www.gifts.duke.edu/daa.

Robert S. Collins Jr.

October 10, 1946 - September 19, 2016